Alan Trammell played all 20 of his MLB seasons for the Tigers, amassing more than 2,100 games at shortstop.

On the Hall of Fame ballot since 2002, Trammell reached a high of 22.4% in the voting last year. He has another 6 years of eligibility assuming that his voting total doesn't fall below 5%.

Trammell was a 6-time All-Star, 4-time Gold Glove winner, 3-time Silver Slugger winner, and was MVP of the 1984 World Series.

Trammell never led the league in a single major statistical category (zero black ink) but probably deserved the 1987 AL MVP. He finished second to George Bell, who had 47 HR and 134 RBI but an oWAR of just 5.0 as compared to Trammell's league-leading total of 8.4. Trammel's .343 batting average that season was, remarkably, good for just 3rd in the AL behind Wade Boggs' .363 and Paul Molitor's .353.

Let's discuss Trammell's career and vote in the poll below.

For Alan Trammell in the Hall of Fame:

• His 66.9 WAR is 72nd among position players, and is 11th all-time among shortstops:

  Rk	Player	WAR/pos	From	To
  1	Honus Wagner	134.5	1897	1917
  2	Alex Rodriguez	101.9	1994	2010
  3	George Davis	90.7	1890	1909
  4	Cal Ripken	89.9	1981	2001
  5	Robin Yount	76.9	1974	1993
  6	Bill Dahlen	75.9	1891	1911
  7	Arky Vaughan	75.6	1932	1948
  8	Derek Jeter	70.1	1995	2010
  9	Luke Appling	69.3	1930	1950
  10	Barry Larkin	68.9	1986	2004
  11	Alan Trammell	66.9	1977	1996
  12	Pee Wee Reese	66.7	1940	1958
  13	Ozzie Smith	64.6	1978	1996
  14	Joe Cronin	62.5	1926	1945
  15	Bobby Wallace	60.5	1894	1918

  Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
  Generated 10/31/2010.
• Trammell generated a lot of offense at shortstop playing almost entirely in an era when SS was not emphasized in the offense. His HOF Monitor is 118 and his HOF Standards is 40, both plenty high enough for serious HOF consideration.
• Looking in the last 20 years before shortstops became major offensive contributors (1973-1992) here are the top qualified seasons among shortstops ranked by OPS+:

  Rk	Player	OPS+	WAR/pos	Year	Tm
  1	Robin Yount	166	11.5	1982	MIL
  2	Cal Ripken	162	11.0	1991	BAL
  3	Alan Trammell	155	8.4	1987	DET
  4	Robin Yount	150	7.5	1983	MIL
  5	Cal Ripken	145	9.2	1984	BAL
  6	Toby Harrah	145	6.6	1975	TEX
  7	Cal Ripken	144	8.3	1983	BAL
  8	Barry Larkin	143	5.8	1991	CIN
  9	Alan Trammell	138	5.7	1983	DET
  10	Alan Trammell	137	6.0	1988	DET
  11	Alan Trammell	135	6.6	1984	DET
  12	Barry Larkin	132	5.7	1992	CIN
  13	Alan Trammell	130	6.8	1990	DET

  Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
  Generated 10/31/2010.

  Trammell takes 5 of the top 13 slots. He's right there with Yount, Ripken, and Larkin among the top offensive shortstops in this period.

• He was huge in the 1984 post-season with 3 HR and 9 RBI in 8 games that culminated in a championship for the Tigers.

Against Alan Trammell in the Hall of Fame:

• Trammell was not a very consistent player from an offensive standpoint. He never posted more than 3 consecutive seasons with an OPS+ of at least 100. As a shortstop playing in a low-offense era, this is not terrible, but it might mean he's not HOF material. After a great 1983 and 1984, Trammell posted an 89 OPS+ in 1985. Then he was great again in 1986, 1987, and 1988, but posted an 85 OPS+ in 1989. Back up in 1990, back down in 1991. Back up in 1992 and 1993, then down for good after that. Compare that to Lou Whitaker, who posted 15 straight seasons with an OPS+ between 103 and 141.
• Trammell was good at a lot of things--a good hitter and a a good fielder--but not great at anything. I already mentioned his black ink of zero and his gray ink (top 10 finishes in major statistical categories) is just 48, quite low.
• He spent most of his career as the 3rd-best shortstop in the AL. At various times, he was ranked behind (by seasonal WAR) Cal Ripken, Robin Yount, and Tony Fernandez.  Trammell was the top AL shortstop by WAR only in 1987 and 1988. Hey--being the 3rd-best shortstop for a long period of time isn't bad, but again, it might not be HOF worthy.
• Trammell's counting stats, which are not overly impressive in the first place, benefit from him coming to the majors at a very young age. Had he played his first full season at 22 or 23 like many players, he would have had a fairly short career given that he last played 120 games at Age 32.
• This should have absolutely nothing to do with his HOF candidacy, but his bad turn as Tigers manager isn't going to help. In 2004 and 2005 thankfully they were just an ordinary bad team, but those 2003 Tigers and their 119 losses are a stain on Trammell's resume that probably hurt his reputation with at least a few voters.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Hall of Fame, Polls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.